Movement Building: Pre-Independence 

Women all over Africa had strong social network systems that they used to support each other during important events such as births, deaths, and celebrations. They used these same systems to resist oppressions within their varied cultural contexts.  For example, a study conducted by the Women Fund Tanzania (2018) revealed how Iraqw women of northern Tanzania had ways to resist oppressive systems including gender-based violence. The women demonstrated by boycotting their gender roles and leaving their community to go live in the forest. The men then had to care for the babies and assume other tasks of the care economy while at the same time send some men to ensure their security. After women returned from the forest, peace and normal life resumed. Hodgson (2017) describes a Maasai practice called olkishoroto in which women collectively inflict beatings on men and women alike whose actions violated norms of sexual relations, pregnancy and motherhood, with documented accounts dating at least to 1910. Similarly, for precolonial Zanzibar, Fair (2001) documents how women conveyed gendered social critique through the performance of sung poetry (taarab) while Stockreiter (2015) discusses how women claimed rights and resources through the kadhi courts. Investment in female social capital facilitated women’s activities, organization and mobilization, and this would become especially apparent during the struggles for independence. 

Scholars like Geiger (1987, 1996, 1997), Tripp (2017), Peeples (2019) and Mbilinyi (2023) argue that women were better positioned than men to organize support for independence through various events like rallies, meetings and concerts. In the pre-independence context, women mobilized their pre-existing social networks, such as dance associations and familial groups, to advance the cause of freedom from colonial rule. One figure in particular, Bibi Titi Mohamed, is credited with strategically tapping traditional dance (ngoma) groups to organize and mobilize women in the liberation struggle. The party that would lead Tanganyika (mainland Tanzania) to independence was the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), established in 1954 by Julius Kambarage Nyerere. According to Geiger, an officer of Britain’s Labour Party made a visit to Tanzania in 1955 and asked to meet with TANU’s women’s auxiliary, but one did not exist at the time. In response, Bibi Titi, who was TANU’s first female member, filed an imaginary women’s organization, and within months TANU’s membership rose from 2,000 to 5,000 members thanks to its new Women’s Section, led by Bibi Titi (Geiger 1982, 1997). These new TANU recruits were ordinary women, including fish mongers, fruits merchants, and beer brewers, many of whom sold their properties to support the struggle (Geiger 1987; Tripp 2017). Groups were coordinated across the country to spread the vision of TANU and this led to Tanganyika’s independence in December 1961 with Julius Nyerere as the country’s first prime minister and subsequently first president. Thus, Bibi Titi’s working spirit and dedication fueled the movement and dedication of ordinary women to the cause of independence (Geiger 1996).  

In Zanzibar, the women’s movement was institutionalized with the establishment of the Zanzibar Women’s Association (ZWA) in 1954, however in contrast to TANU’s Women’s Section and the UWT with its reliance on ordinary, non-elite women, ZWA membership was restricted to elite, English-speaking women.  

Women’s Movement: Post-Independence 

Questioning exclusion in Political Leadership & Introducing Ujamaa Philosophy 

Most of the women who participated in the independence struggle expected to participate in the government structure. To their surprise they were excluded, leading Bibi Titi to boldly ask of Nyerere, “Where are the women?” He replied, “Where are women with experience of leadership?” to which Bibi Titi responded, “Where did you get experience on statesmanship?” Bibi Titi was appointed to the Legislative Council alongside other women, including Ndigwako Bertha Akim King’ori, the first woman appointed to the Council in 1957 (Tripp 2017: 161). In the 1960 elections, five women were elected and one more appointed to the Council, constituting 10% of the Council’s membership. In 1962 Bibi Titi transformed the TANU Women’s Section into the Umoja wa Wanawake Tanzania (UWT, Union of Tanzanian Women) whose constitution aimed “to foster the development of women in respect of economic, political, cultural, educational, and health matters” (cited in Tripp 2017: 158).  In 1964, she was elected to Parliament and appointed junior minister for women’s and social affairs.  

Meanwhile on Zanzibar, the mobilization of female members of the political parties, the Zanzibar Nationalist Party (ZNP) and the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP), in the late 1950s advanced women’s concerns such as the right to vote (Ott 2020: 40). Women activists were credited with some of the ASP’s electoral successes in the early 1960s, not only by turning out voters, but also in raising the funds necessary to bring in an external election observer to help the ASP claim a contested seat it had won in Chake Chake, Pemba. However, it was only after the Zanzibar Revolution in January 1964, that a formal women’s section of the ruling ASP was formed called Umoja wa Akina Mama wa ASP (UWASP, Union of Afro-Shirazi Party Mothers).  

Following independence, Tanzania introduced a modernization model based on Keynesian economic theory, a model borrowed from Western countries. It posited that capital concentrated among a few would have spillover (“trickle down”) effect onto the majority of the citizens.  On the contrary, however, the economy (as measured by GDP) grew but the majority of Tanzanians remained poor with only a wealthy few benefitting. At this point, the organizing for economic development focused on women in development (Meena, R. personal interview, 2024).  

In 1967, President Nyerere introduced his philosophy of Ujamaa na Kujitegemea (“Socialism and Self-Reliance). Ujamaa translates from Kiswahili as “familyhood.” With this philosophy and resulting political program, public goods had to be shouldered by the state, in particular education, healthcare and water provisioning. Tanzania mainland received support from a number of Western countries, most prominently the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Finland and Sweden, as well as England and the USA (Ujamaa socialism being more politically acceptable than Marxist-Leninism). According to Nyerere (1987), socialism was key to eradicating colonialism, as it would promote unity and provide the sense of security that comes with belonging to an extended family. But “family”, in this case, stretched beyond the nuclear family to the wider society and nation of Tanzania. In an ideal world, it would stretch even further to encompass the African continent and all of humanity. That is what he considered to be true socialism. On Zanzibar, Ujamaa socialism was also proclaimed by Abeid Karume, President of Zanzibar and First Vice President of Tanzania, but it took very different form drawing inspiration from ‘scientific socialism’ and developing strong ties to the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and China. Ujamaa socialism was short-lived in both mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar as donor countries withdrew their support following Tanzania’s war with Uganda (1978-1979) and the global recession stemming from the 1979 oil crisis. 

Gender equity was nevertheless part and parcel of Ujamaa socialism, as signaled in the Tanzania’s coat of arms, which features a man and a woman supporting a shield with the Tanzanian flag and other symbols of the nation. In 1975, Tanzania was the first African nation to set aside a number of seats in Parliament for women representatives—a total of 15 seats (Tripp 2017: 161). And in 1976, the UWT incorporated UWASP just a year before TANU and the ASP were merged into what remains the ruling party in Tanzania today: Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM – Party of the Revolution).  

Liberalization of Social Services   

In response to the economic troubles Tanzania faced in the late 1970s, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) imposed a recovery model called Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) in 1986. The SAP was intended to improve and balance trade and managing financial policies that would speed up economic recovery. SAP demanded that government stop managing the economy and instead allow the private sector to control the supply and demand of goods and services. It required the Tanzanian government to privatize social services such as education, healthcare, and water, as well as state-owned enterprises. At this point a new kind of movement in Tanzania started to question the gender inequalities brought out by SAP (Mbilinyi and Chachage 2003).    

Many women’s organizations were born during this period and saw the opportunity to advocate against gender inequalities, oppressive systems and injustice (Mallya 2005). While there was a great deal of activity, one focus was the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing, China in 1995. Some organizations mobilized women and advocated against the SAP policies, supported by individual activists, In addition, scholars demonstrated how SAP had increased the care burden of women, e.g., taking the critically ill from hospitals to homes, denying their fundamental human rights to free social services, including health and education, which in turn compromised the girl child. These organizations included Tanzania Gender Networking Program (TGNP), Tanzania Women Lawyers Association (TAWLA), Zanzibar Female Lawyers Association (ZAFELA), and Tanzania Media Women Association (TAMWA), which had branches in both mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar.  

TGNP, for instance, emerged as a product of preparations for the Beijing Conference, and entailed collecting voices of women around the country, agreeing on the agenda within the country, moving to the region to share the agenda, then to the entire continent. This activity resulted in the “Girl Child Agenda” and later was incorporated into the Beijing Declaration. Additionally, these organizations experienced meaningful success in mobilizing and advocating for political reforms that created legal protections for the girl child and women’s equality, including the Law of Marriage Act (1971) and Village Land Act of 1999, which codified that customary practice could not be utilized to deny women the ability to own land (Badri and Tripp 2017).  Now there are more organizations working towards addressing gender inequalities in various thematic areas and they have brought about gains in advocating reforms and creating a safe environment for women and girls. Such reforms include, but are not limited to, legal reforms such as ending abuse of authority under Section 25 of the Prevention of Corruption Act No. 11 of 2007; and protecting underage girls from sexual exploitation through the Sexual Offences Special Provisions Act (SOSPA) of 1998.  

These gains could never be credited to one or two organizations. Women’s organizations have continued to work through their women networks and coalitions even when they differ in ideologies. They are connected through one agenda and that is a women’s agenda. The best example was when former President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete announced the launch of the new constitutional reform process. Women in the country organized themselves and formed the Coalition of Women Leadership and Constitution that comprised more the 60 civil society organizations (CSOs) representing different political ideologies and objectives but united around a common agenda: a women’s-focused agenda. The Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) was impressed by the women’s coalition as they had their identified 12 issues well-articulated, and these were all incorporated in the proposed constitution. Although the process of constitutional reform was put on hold indefinitely, women celebrated their gains and await a resumption of the constitutional reform process. 

In sum, women’s activism in Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar can be traced to long before the independence era. Women have tapped their kin and social networks to share information, discuss issues, formulate strategies, dispense justice, and challenge abuse and oppression across a variety of contexts. Over time, the platforms/spaces they used have, in some cases, become more formalized with the emergence of organizations like UWT, TAMWA, TGNP, and TAWLA, among others. The use of media to amplify their voices in questioning the status quo and demanding change has grown. Similarly, the Tanzanian women’s movement has evolved in terms of their concerns from development and welfare, economic development and savings/credit, to addressing inequalities and claiming equal rights.   

The Interviews 

Thirteen women were interviewed from Tanzania, all virtually on Zoom except for one interview that was completed in person.  Of the 13 women interviewed, 5 were from  Zanzibar and 8 from mainland Tanzania. Only one woman was interviewed outside Tanzania; she was in Texas, USA at the time of the interview. The sample was purposefully selected from among the many who have done outstanding work within the women’s movement taking into consideration the diversity and intersectionality of the sampled group, with attention to ethnicity, region, religion, age, and activist activities.  

The interviews were conducted between July 2021 and August 2023 by Anneth Meena. They were guided by an adaptation of the Global Feminism Project’s standard protocol, focusing on  the activists’ early lives, their work lives, how personal life influenced and shaped the work they do in activism and feminism, their understanding of feminism, and how they connect within and beyond Tanzania with other movement activists and organizations. 

Siti Abbas Ali was interviewed in Unguja, Zanzibar, on December 8, 2022. Abbas Ali is an inspiring learner; she has been able to infuse feminist leadership in both government and CSO institutions. Abbas grew up in the women’s movement and was appointed by the President of Zanzibar to the Special Constituent Assembly (SCA) in 2014. Siti Abbas Ali was among the six members of the women’s coalition on constitutional review appointed to the SCA. 

Fatma Alloo was interviewed in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on August 21, 2023. She is a  feminist who believes in the use of media as a transformative tool against patriarchal and other oppressive systems. She was one of the founding members of Tanzania Media Women Association (TAMWA). 

Sabrina Othman Faraji was interviewed in Unguja, Zanzibar on December 15, 2022. Faraji recognizes that economic inequality is a barrier to women empowerment. She is an entrepreneur, a designer who has managed to empower rural women through her work. She uses a business model to empower women from rural communities.  

Mariam Hamdan was interviewed in Unguja, Zanzibar on December 15, 2022. Hamdan challenges the cultural systems through a form of sung poetry known as taarab. She leads a band in which women play instruments that were traditionally played by men. She uses her music as a tool to advocate for gender equality.  

Maimuna Kanyamala was interviewed in Mwanza, Tanzania on September 3, 2021. She is a feminist activist who uses entrepreneur skills as a transformative tool to empower young women. She is passionate about women’s issues and believes in economic justice. Kanyamala co-founded and directed two organizations in Mwanza focused on female empowerment: Kivulini Women’s Rights Organization and Mikono Yetu.  

Anna Kulaya was interviewed in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on September 22, 2021. Kulaya is a young dynamic lawyer who believes in legal transformation to address inequalities. She focuses her campaign to address gender-based violence at work, and provides legal aid to victims of gender-based violence through the organization she heads: Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF).  

Salma Maoulid was interviewed in Unguja, Zanzibar on September 4, 2021. She has been called “a public intellectual and social activist” by the Heinrich Böll Foundation. Maoulid was a member of the Tanzanian Constitutional Review Commission established in 2011, representing the island of Zanzibar. She is executive director of the Sahiba Sisters Foundation, a coalition of Muslim feminist CBOs and NGOs. 

Marjorie Mbilinyi was interviewed in Texas, USA on September 16, 2021. She is renowned educator, activist and feminist known for her participatory methodologies in both classroom and in the women’s movement. Her participatory methodologies attracted women all over the country to come together and strategize the women’s agenda for the 1995 Beijing Conference. Her participatory methodologies have been adopted within TGNP and other CSOs within the Tanzanian women’s movement. She has been a mentor, inspiring many to develop as feminist activists.  Mbilinyi was among the first to critique neo-colonialism and liberalism from a feminist perspective. She is one of the first female professors at the University of Dar es Salaam, as well as one of the founders and first Executive Director of the Tanzania Gender Networking Program (TGNP), a feminist organization established as an NGO in preparation for the 1995 Beijing Conference. Mbilinyi pioneered reading clubs (house to house) at the University of Dar es Salaam as a way to empower women and encourage them to question the status quo for women at the university. The group grew, and later became the Women’s Research and Documentation Project (WRDP), attracting women beyond the UDSM campus. 

Ruth Meena was interviewed in Dar es Salaam, the commercial city of Tanzania; the interview was conducted virtually on July 13, 2021. She discussed her life-journey as an educator, from secondary school to teacher’s college, then to university. She has participated in the movement as a feminist academic and human rights activist. She introduced a new course on “Gender and Politics” in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM).  She was among the founding members of the Women’s Research and Documentation Project (WRDP) housed at UDSM.   

Penina Mlama was interviewed in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on September 29, 2021. She is an educator and activist who believes in a gender responsive curriculum as a means to empower girl children in STEM and education generally. She pioneered the pre-entry program at the University of Dar es Salaam as a strategy to promote female enrollment in STEM courses. She also pioneered a gender responsive program through the TUSEME project in both primary and secondary schools to empower girls to speak up on issues affecting their education journey. She has numerous publications, some of which address the oppression of women, and its impact on the nation. 

Nasra Juma Mohamed was interviewed on March 28, 2023 in Unguja, Zanzibar. She challenges the stereotype of girls in sports. She also uses sports as a transformative tool in Zanzibar. Nasra Juma Mohamed started as a badminton player and later became a football player. She grew in the sports industry while working as an immigration officer. She pioneered the establishment of the first female football team in Zanzibar, was the first female football coach in Tanzania, and by 2011 was considered a highly qualified female football coach in the country.  

Maanda Ngoitiko was interviewed in Loliondo, Arusha on November 17, 2021. Ngoitiko grew up in a pastoralist Maasai community and experienced first-hand challenges of gender inequality as a child. She works in her community to challenge existing social and cultural norms that deny girl children their fundamental human rights to enjoy life to their full potential. Ngoitiko co-founded the Pastoralist Women’s Council (PWC) in 1997 and serves as its executive director.  

Mary Rusimbi was interviewed on September 17, 2021 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She is a feminist and activist and navigated from Embassy positions to CSOs to become the third Executive Director of TGNP. Rusimbi adopted the participatory methodology that became part of the culture of TGNP. She pioneered the Gender Responsive Budgeting that later became part of the Government planning. Rusimbi believed in succession planning to ensure the sustainability of organizations, particularly in CSOs. Rusimbi has supported an intergeneration model called CSOs Women’s Directors Forum for executive directors, many of whom are young. It offers a platform for them to share experiences, lessons and strategize ways forward. Rusimbi has pioneered a very progressive succession model that she tested through the Women Fund Tanzania Trust (WFT-Trust). Rusimbi has also established a new wellness center to support women.  

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